FAQ About The New License Agreement

For the last 48 hours since we introduced our new license agreement we've received hundreds of happy comments and a number of different questions about the new policy. Below are answers to the most popular questions we've been asked.

Does the new license agreement affect my previously purchased products?

We consider the new License Agreement to be in your benefit and because of that, we think you won't mind if our new License Agreement affect your previous orders too. Unfortunately the new licensing policy affects only products based on our latest framework (you can find a list with these products here) We are working on updating all our scripts so soon you can expect all our products to be available under the new licensing policy.

When will you upgrade your other products to the latest framework?

We are working hard to make all our products based on Framework 4. For the last 12 months we've released some new products, a lot major and minor releases to our products. It sometimes takes longer than expected to upgrade products, but we all hope that all remaining scripts will be updated in the next 3-4 months.

I do not want to apply for an Extended License. Can I still modify the scripts and install them on all my websites?

Yes, you can! Think of the Extended License as an upgrade to the Developer license. With a Developer license you can make changes to the code, change copyright notices, install the scripts on an unlimited number of websites. On the other hand the Extended License gives you the freedom to advertise and promote our product on your website. If you do not need and want to advertise our product on your website you don't need to apply for Extended License and can continue using the standard Developer License.

Why is Extended License not available in my country?

For the last months we've had many conversations with people and companies from each of the countries where Extended License is currently available and have been rest assured that copyright and intellectual property is well protected. We are in constant contact with legal authorities from other countries and are looking to negotiate a legal protection for our business in case we experience any copyright violation. I hope that we will be able to offer our Extended License in other countries soon! 

Can I still make my own changes?

Of course, you can. Under the Developer License you have the freedom to make your own changes, remove our company copyright notices and put your own notices. We have not changed that and do not plan to do it! The Developer License allows you to remove the original StivaSoft Copyright Notice from the Source Code and the product front-end, if you choose so. The Developer License allows you to display a notice such as "Managed by YourCompany" if you maintain the software and / or provide technical support on your behalf or in other cases “Powered by YourCompany” on the front-end. Anyway, the Developer License does NOT transfer the copyright to you. Please do not insert "Copyright by YourCompany" title or in any other way state that you own the copyright of the software. You may display notes such as "Managed by YourCompany" or "Powered by YourCompany" or any other note, but in no case should such a note misleads anyone that you own the copyright. You cannot write or state anywhere that you are the owner of the copyright or use the copyright symbol in your notices.

Do I receive full source code with a Developer License?

We have a couple of obfuscated files, which are the core of our framework, and which as per our License Agreement you cannot modify. These core framework files are not where you need to modify to make changes to our scripts but still if you need, we can provide a documentation for them. Even though you can make all kinds of changes to the script. You can change the layout, add new features, or change the way current features work. You can learn more about our framework 4 here.

When the script is installed does it depend on your server? What happens if you go out of business or your server is down?

Our scripts have never been made to depend on our servers and will never be. Once you install the script on your hosting account and you have the license key generated during the installation process, you can use the script forever without being worried if our servers go down. Your script will never stop working even if for some reason our servers are down.

By the way, we use some of the best hosting providers and for the last 7 years, our website has been down only for a few hours once due to a HDD crash. Since then, we have operated mirror servers and our websites are up and running 100% of the time. That was a little bragging.. :) But again I say your installation DOES NOT depend on our server in any way!

We've been running PHPjabbers.com website for almost 10 years now. It was started with a single product. As of today we offer 40 products, have more than 24 000 clients and 23 employees. I am saying all this so you better understand how we run our business. We are not new to the market. We've been here for many years and we plan to stay in business for a lot more! Still, if you are worried that we may go out of business, I can reassure you that we've taken necessary measures so that you can continue installing our products without the need of a license key. So in any case - server down or going out of business - you can continue using ALL our products without a problem.

I hope you are happy with the new License Agreement and it will help you grow your website development business. We are glad to be part of this growth!

Regards,

Veselin Stoilov

CEO